Employing unconventional building materials, the North American firms 5468796 Architecture, Factor Eficiencia and NYL Structural Engineers have teamed up to create "One Bucket at a Time," an interactive pavilion that has made waves as it traveled from Mexico to Canada. Read on to learn more about the installation.

From the architects. 5468796 Architecture (Canada) and Factor Eficiencia (Mexico) in collaboration with NYL Structural Engineers (EE.UU) worked together to build an exciting public facility called One Bucket at a Time, an exciting public installation that weaves together thousands of common 5-gallon painters’ buckets to form two giant waves.

Initially designed as a pavilion for people to explore and enjoy as part of Mextrópoli City Architecture Festival in March 2017, the installation was inspired by the prevalent use of buckets to hijack public space in Mexico City.

Received with great enthusiasm by visitors, these strong local origins of the bucket have been reinterpreted by the design team in a new project for the Winnipeg Design Festival and Nuit Blanche/Culture Days. The facility was open to the public with different activities from September 11th to the 30th.

One Bucket at a Time doubled its impact with an innovative community initiative: visitors to the installation were invited to “fill the wave” of buckets through individual donations of $20. Arriving in Canada empty, each bucket used to construct the project will leave for Mexico filled with Canadian generosity, with all proceeds to be given to Ayuda y Solidaridad con las Niñas de la Calle, a Mexican orphanage for at-risk girls and young women located in Mexico City.